Sunday, April 17, 2011

Another Exciting Week!

Most of our weeks are exciting, some "planned" excitement and some "not planned". I really prefer the "planned" because sometimes the "not planned" are not much fun. Whichever, we like to stay busy. Depression has never been a problem of mine, until the last few years anyhow. However, it seems if I don’t stay busy, I have a tendency to dwell on the past too much. Memories are great and we all have them. The difficulty lies in my memories of the past affecting my present. Confusing right? YES!

Friday, April 15TH, was Mikel’s Birthday. He would have been 56. As you know, Ms. Pat and I dedicate this Blog to both Scott and Mikel. Their birthdays seem to be the toughest and always bring back a lot of memories. I remember way back in 1955 when Mikel was born. I was but a mere 20 years old but I remember how proud I was of him. I always said how Mikel and I grew up together. Back in his beginning years, I was driving a semi-truck hauling Rodeo stock around to rodeos and following the circuit, riding bucking horses and brahma bulls. I took him with me everywhere and showed him to everyone in his cowboy hat and boots. He was a cute little guy and was quite the center of attraction.

It wasn’t long until I realized that my lifestyle was not that of a responsible Father and I needed to get a real job. We were staying in Motels a lot and Mikel’s bed was many times a “dresser drawer” . I didn’t like that. I enjoyed the great excitement of being around and a part of rodeoing and the competition of being a contestant was very enjoyable for me. I was making good money driving trucks for the O'Conner and Son’s Rodeo Producers and winning some prize money every now and then. But Mikel was my main concern, so I gave it up and found a real job.

Anyhow, what I’m trying to say is, memories are wonderful, even though sometimes sad, but I sure wouldn’t want to be without them. Sometimes, however, they can be overwhelming unless they are controlled. That control is tough and my only defense is “Stay Busy”. Dwelling on those memories too long causes depression. What keeps me going is the fact that I know both Scott and Mikel would not want me to be sad or depressed. So for them and with the Good Lord’s help…… I will not let my memories make me overly saddened to the point of depression. But I sure miss ‘em…………Now, lets get on with it!

Late Thursday afternoon, the FedEx man pulled up into our yard and delivered this beautiful NEW COMPUTER…. WOW, was I excited. I thought he would never get here!! It didn’t take me long to get it unpacked and fired up… Uh, Oh, now the task of getting everything I “wanted” transferred over from the old one. It took about 30 seconds for me to get totally confused… I started hollering “PAT”!!
Ms. Pat knew how excited I was and anxious to get the new DELL set up so I could use it. As busy as she was on her stuff and after hollering at her and asking “what do I do know”, she came in and told me to let her work on it for a minute. As most of you know, it's no easy task changing from an old to a new computer. It was a lot longer than a minute, but it wasn’t long until she had me quiet and happy on my new Laptop!! The old Sony had been a great companion and although it was only a couple years old, it was showing signs of hard use. Believe me, I am HARD on them. I had hammered on the keyboard until 2 keys had totally fell off and recently the “E” key only worked about 50% of the time. That can be frustrating. I have a new Keyboard ordered, and I will do my best to install it when and if I ever get it. So the old Sony is not totally given up. Plus, like my friend Mark Bruss always says “You need a backup” ! So, I’m here to tell you that this morning I am coming to you from my new DELL INSPIRON !!! I LOVE IT.....the “e” works and everything!

Yesterday (Saturday) just after lunch Doug and Jutta arrived here at North Ranch for a visit on their way to Oregon. They are our good friends and former neighbors from Retama Village in Mission, TX. They also came to the Black Hills a couple years ago and visited us several times while they were there. Doug and Jutta are on their way to Washington where they plan on spending the summer. We are so glad they stopped by. So last night called for a special Happy Hour and "travel day" meal in their honor. Ms. Pat and Sally prepared some salad and burgers for us all. Tom and Sally own a couple of lots here at North Ranch and also own a lot in Retama Village. They met Doug and Jutta at Retama a few years ago, so they helped us welcome them to the "Ranch". Doug told us that his Mom owned a lot here at the Ranch several years ago. It's a small world.
Here we all are at Happy Hour. Don’t we look like a HAPPY bunch? That’s Jutta on the left, then Doug, next is Ms., Pat and "yours truly", then Sally and Tom. The hat rack on the left is where Ms. Pat always makes me check my Hat and Gun.

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by. Come on back Wednesday if ya' can. Until then, God Bless and travel safe. We're off to Church!

10 comments:

You are going to love that Dell Inspiron, thats the one I just got for Donna a couple weeks ago, I love the built in camera for Skype. Plus it is so fast compared to the Dell Latitude I have that is about 4 years old, boy have the increased speed in that time,Enjoy it Mike,you deserve it. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna..

Enjoy your new computer! Mike has a Sony that looks alot like the one in your pic. His is also getting old and abused....and much older than yours. Let us know how you like the Dell for future reference.

Thinking about you both at this time. Yes, memories can be tough at times but aren't we glad we have them??? God is with you and understands! :-)

I can't imagine how it must feel to lose a son. It's good to talk about it now and then even if you are working on living in the present. On another note, it must be computer week. I am reading your blog on my new Dell Vostro with Windows 7! I sure like the 4 gig of RAM! Happy Hour looks like great fun.

So know what you mean about memories and how important they mean to us. We too lost a son, he was a baby so we don't have lots of memories of him here on earth but what we do have are special to us. And like you, if I dwell too much on the sad things depression rears its ugly head. Isn't it comforting to know one day we will see our loved ones again. May you have a blessed week.

If not for our memories we would have nothing. Better to have loved & lost than to have never loved at all. Just a couple old sayings I remembered. Keep those memories in perspective Mike.Know what you mean by needing help getting the new computer set up. When we got our new Toshiba Win 7 a little over a year ago I had to rely on Kelly to get er up & running real good. I used to be able to do that stuff but the memory has been slipping over the last few years & my patience for technical stuff right along with it. Easy on that keyboard & make er last:))

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Mike and Pat McFall

We sold our home in Tallahassee, FL and began full-timing 16 years ago. We recently purchased a home at North Ranch and now have a Cabin on our property in the Black Hills...so we are now part-timing again.

We stay on our property in the Black Hills south of Custer in the Summer and at North Ranch in Congress, Arizona in the Winter. We only travel a few months out of the year, visiting kids and friends around the country when we can.

We hope you will join us on our adventures and visit us at our homes when you are in the area. Please feel free to leave us a comment.